Remarks by the President to the American Conservative Union 40th Anniversary Gala
Jw Marriott Hotel
Washington, D.C.

7:05 P.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. Thanks a lot. I'm honored to
join you here for the 40th anniversary of the American Conservative
Union. I bring greetings from the A team in my family -- Laura Bush.
(Applause.) You got stuck with the junior varsity. (Laughter.) I'm a
lucky man to be married to Laura. She is a fabulous person, great mom,
great wife, and I think she deserves four more years as the First
Lady. (Applause.)

I just left a meeting with our fabulous Vice President, and he sends
his best. (Applause.) He's still pretty proud of his last in the House,
when he received a 100 percent rating from the ACU. (Applause.) He
didn't mention that one when you gave him a 90. (Laughter.) The ACU
doesn't rate Presidents, but a President can rate you. This is a fine
group of decent citizens, principled citizens, and tonight I am proud
to stand with the ACU. (Applause.)

And I appreciate my friend, David Keene, the Chairman. This is his
20th anniversary. He is the longest serving chairman in ACU history. As
one of his predecessors said about David's long tenure, so long as it's
not a paying job he won't have any competition. (Laughter.)

I met David's daughter, Private 1st Class Lisa Keene. And I'm proud
that she is volunteering in the United States Army. (Applause.) But not
nearly as proud as her dad.

I appreciate being up here with some fine members of Congress --
Senator Mitch McConnell, the dinner co-chair. Good to see you, Mitch.
Thank you. (Applause.) I see Senator Jim Bunning is here today. Thank
you for co-chairing this, as well. (Applause.) I'm pulling for you in
the reelection.

I know Chris Cox is here, as well. Congressman Cox is a fine member of
the Congress and a good friend. (Applause.) And, of course, former ACU
Chairman -- I don't think he was the guy that gave me that quote, by
the way -- and that would be Congressman Phil Crane. I appreciate you
being here. (Applause.) I see other members of the Senate and the House
who are here. Thanks for coming. It's good to see you all.

I know members of my administration are here. I see Kay James, who's
the Director of the Office of Personnel Management. I appreciate you
being here, Kay. John Bolton, the Under Secretary of State of Arms
Control and -- (applause.) I told you we were going to get out of the
ABM Treaty -- (laughter) -- and we did. And I want to thank you for
your help. (Applause.)

I appreciate being here with a member of the ex-governor's club -- I'm
a member, too -- (laughter) -- in my friend, Jim Gilmore. Good to see
you, Jimmy. Thanks for being here. (Applause.)

I like to be around celebrities. You know I don't get out much.
(Laughter.) So it's good to rub elbows with Snow. (Laughter.) And I
appreciate the President of Catholic University, Father David
O'Connell, for coming, as well. I'm honored you're here. (Applause.)

Some here tonight were there for that first meeting of the ACU in the
fall of 1964. Back then, as David mentioned, you weren't feeling too
good about the President from Texas. As a matter of fact, you stood
behind a good man from Arizona, Barry Goldwater. (Applause.) You knew
that the principles he represented -- freedom and limited government
and national strength -- would eventually carry the day. And you were
right. And that day came when President Ronald Reagan, I might add,
supported by a great Vice President -- (laughter and applause) -- came
to Washington, D.C. President Reagan taught America the power of an
optimistic spirit. He also understood the power of ideas to transform
our country and to change the world.

The conservative movement has become the dominant intellectual force
in American politics, on the strength of writers and thinkers like
Whitaker Chambers and Bill Buckley and Russell Kirk. The movement has
inspired many hundreds of fine Americans to run for office and to serve
in government. It's easy to understand why. On the fundamental issues
of our times, conservatives have been right. (Applause.) Conservatives
were right that the Cold War was a contest of good and evil. And behind
the Iron Curtain people did not want containment, they awaited for
liberation. (Applause.) Conservatives were right that the free
enterprise system is the path to prosperity, and that free enterprise
is the economic system consistent with human freedom and human dignity.
(Applause.) Conservatives were right that a free society is sustained
by the character of its people, which means we must honor the moral and
religious heritage of our great nation.

These convictions, once defended by a few, are now broadly shared by
Americans. And I am proud to advance these convictions and these
principles as I stand for reelection in 2004. (Applause.)

I'm looking forward to the campaign. I'm looking forward to taking our
message to the American people. And it's going to be a tough campaign.
I need your help. I'm running for a reason -- you're about to hear
why. I've got a purpose to be your President for four more years. I'm
running against a person who has got a lot of experience -- he just
shares a different philosophy from us.

When the non-partisan National Journal did his ratings, they found
that my opponent had the most liberal record of all 100 United States
senators. That's a heck of a feat. (Laughter.) It isn't very easy to
make Ted Kennedy the conservative senator from Massachusetts.
(Applause.) My opponent has earned more than Senator Kennedy's
endorsement. You may have heard he claims to have picked up some
endorsement from foreign leaders, as well. (Laughter.) He just won't
give us their names.

He did drop a hint the other day on national TV when he was asked
about the leaders. "What I said is true," is what he said -- he, my
opponent. "What I said is true. I mean, you can go to New York City and
you can be in a restaurant, and you can meet a foreign leader."
(Laughter.) I've got a hunch this whole thing might be a case of
mistaken identity. (Laughter and applause.) Just because somebody has
an accent -- (laughter) -- a nice suit, and a good table at a fancy
restaurant doesn't make him a foreign leader. (Laughter and applause.)

Whoever these mystery men are, they're not going to be deciding the
election. The American people will be deciding this election.
(Applause.) And great events will turn on this election. The man who
sits in the Oval Office will set the course of the war on terror and
the direction of our economy. The security and prosperity of America
are at stake. The voters this year are going to have a clear choice.
It's an unmistakable choice between keeping the tax relief that is
moving our economy forward, or putting the burden of higher taxes back
on the American people. It is a choice between an America that leads
the world with strength and confidence, or an America that is uncertain
in the face of danger.

The other side hasn't offered much yet in the way of clear strategies
to win the war or to expand our economy. Thus far, all we've heard is
old bitterness and outbursts, instead of calm debate. They will learn
that anger is not an agenda for America's future. (Applause.)

I look forward -- I look forward to taking on the big issues, setting
big goals, with optimism and resolve and determination, and I will make
it clear to the American people, I stand ready to lead this nation for
four more years. (Applause.)

A big issue for every family in America is the federal tax burden.
The largest tax relief since Ronald Reagan was President, we've left
more money in the hands that earned it. By spending and investing and
to helping create new jobs, the American people have used their money
far better than the federal government would have. (Applause.)

This economy is strong, and it is getting stronger. Last month,
America added 288,000 new jobs. Manufacturing jobs have increased for
three straight months. Since August, our economy has added more than
1.1 million new jobs. (Applause.) In the first quarter of 2004, the
economy grew at a strong rate of 4.2 percent. And over the past year,
economic growth has been the fastest in nearly two decades. (Applause.)
Business investment is up, inflation is low, mortgage and interest
rates are near historic lows, the home ownership rate in America is the
highest ever. (Applause.) America's economy is the fastest growing of
any major industrialized nation. The tax relief we passed is working.
(Applause.)

There's a difference of taxes in this campaign. My opponent has a
different view. When we passed an increase in the child credit to help
families, he voted no. When we reduced the marriage penalty, he voted
against it. When we created a lower 10-percent bracket for working
families, he voted no. When we reduced taxes on dividends that helps
our senior citizens, he said no. When we gave small businesses tax
incentive to expand and hire, he voted against it. When we phased out
the death tax, he voted no. I think we got a trend here. (Laughter.)

It's easier to get a yes vote out of him when it comes to raising
taxes. That's his record. Senator Kerry has voted over 350 times for
higher taxes on the American people. He supported higher gas taxes 11
times, and once favored a tax increase of 50 cents a gallon. That would
cost you another $5.00 or more every time you fill up your tank. With
that kind of money, you'd think he'd throw in a free car wash.
(Laughter and applause.)

My opponent has proposed a lot of new spending, and we're counting.
At last count, he's proposed $1.9 trillion of new spending, and the
election is six months away. (Laughter.) He's going to have to pay for
that somehow. Of course, you've heard the old, tired rhetoric of how
he's going to pay for it, he's going to tax the rich. But there's not
enough money to pay for all those new programs by taxing the rich. He's
got what we call a tax gap. That gap needs a lot of money to pay for
all his promises. And given his record, there's no doubt where that
money is going to come from -- it's going to come from the working
people in America. The good news is, we're not going to give him the
chance. (Applause.)

The American people know what you and I know, that higher taxes would
undermine growth and destroy jobs, just as this economy is getting
stronger. No, I have a better idea -- we should keep taxes low. We will
not raise taxes on the American people. (Applause.)

We must do more to keep this economy growing and make sure America is
the best place to do business in the world. (Applause.) We need to
maintain spending discipline in our Nation's Capital. I look forward to
working with members of the United States Congress to do just that. We
have a plan to protect small business owners and employees from
frivolous and needless lawsuits. We need tort reform out of the United
States Congress. (Applause.)

I've developed plans and a strategy to help control the cost of health
care by giving people better access through association health care
plans and tax-free health savings accounts. And for the sake of
affordability and availability of good medicine, we need to pass
medical liability reform out of the United States Senate. (Applause.)

As we are learning at our gas pumps, this country needs an energy
plan. We need an energy strategy, one that encourages conservation; one
that develops alternative uses for energy; one that modernizes the
electricity grid. But we need to make sure we use our coal resource,
our natural gas resources, our nuclear resources. We need to become
less dependent on foreign sources of energy. (Applause.)

In order to make sure we grow our economy, we need to reject economic
isolationism. We've opened our markets, for the sake of consumers, to
other countries. Rather than walling ourselves off and stopping the
creation of new jobs, we need to get other countries to open up their
markets for us. When you're good at something, we ought to promote it.
We're good at manufacturing things; we're good at growing things; our
technology sector is the best in the world. We need to be opening up
markets so people can find jobs here in America. (Applause.)

What I'm telling you is, if you're interested in job creation in
America, you need to reelect a President who's pro-growth,
pro-entrepreneur, and pro-small business, and that's George W. Bush.
(Applause.)

I'll tell you something else we understand loud and clear, and that is
a hopeful society is one that encourages ownership. We want more people
owning their own home. There's a -- there's a home ownership gap in
America. Not enough minorities own their own home. We've got plans to
make sure people from all walks of life have a chance to say, this is
my home. Welcome to my home.

We want more people owning their own small business. We want people
owning and managing their own health care plan. We want younger workers
to own and manage their own retirement accounts. See, we understand,
when people have assets to call their own, they gain independence and
security and dignity. See, I believe in private property so much, I
want every American to have some. (Applause.)

On issue after issue, the American people have a clear choice. My
opponent is against personal retirement accounts; against giving
patients more control over their medical decisions through health
savings accounts; against providing parents more choices over education
for their children; against tax relief for all Americans. He seems to
be against every idea that gives Americans more authority and more
choices and more control over our own lives.

The other side will make a lot of promises over the next six months.
The American people need to listen closely, because there is a theme.
Every promise will increase the power of politicians and bureaucrats
over your income, over your retirement, over your health care, over
your children's education. It's the same old Washington mind-set:
They'll give the orders, and we'll pay the bills. I've got news for
him. America has gone beyond that way of thinking, and we are not going
back. (Applause.)

Our future also depends on America's leadership in the world. The
momentum of freedom in our time is strong, but we still face serious
dangers. Al Qaeda is wounded, but not broken. Terrorists are testing
our will in Afghanistan and Iraq. Regimes in North Korea and Iran are
challenging the peace. If America shows weakness and uncertainty in
this decade, the world will drift toward tragedy. This will not happen
on my watch. (Applause.)

This nation is strong and confident in the cause of freedom. We know
that freedom is not America's gift to the world. Freedom is the
Almighty's gift to every man and woman in this world. (Applause.)

Because of our principled stand and clear speaking, today, no friend
or enemy doubts the word of the United States of America. America and
our allies gave an ultimatum to the terror regime in Afghanistan. The
Taliban chose defiance, and the Taliban is no longer in power.
(Applause.) America and our allies gave an ultimatum to the dictator in
Iraq. He chose defiance, and now, he sits in a prison cell. (Applause.)

September the 11th, 2001 taught a lesson I will never forget, and
America must never forget. America must confront threats before they
fully materialize. (Applause.) In Iraq, my administration looked at the
intelligence, and we saw a threat. Members of the United States
Congress from both political parties looked at the intelligence, and
they saw a threat. The United Nations Security Council looked at the
intelligence, and it saw a threat. As a matter of fact, the previous
administration and Congress looked at the intelligence, and made regime
change in Iraq the policy of the United States.

In 2002, the U.N. Security Council, yet again, demanded a full
accounting of Saddam Hussein's weapons programs. They remembered what
we remember. They remembered he attacked countries in his neighborhood.
They remembered that he paid suiciders to kill innocent Israelis. They
remembered he had ties to terrorist organizations. They remembered that
he used weapons of mass destruction against his own people. As he had
for over a decade, Saddam Hussein refused to comply with the demands of
the free world. So I had a choice to make: Either trust the word of a
madman, or defend America. Given that choice, I will defend America
every time. (Applause.)

Thank you.

My opponent admits that Saddam Hussein was a threat. He just didn't
support my decision to remove Saddam from power. Maybe he was hoping
Saddam would lose the next Iraqi election. (Laughter.) We showed the
dictator and a watching world that America means what it says. Because
our coalition acted, Saddam's torture chambers are closed. Because we
acted, Iraq's weapons programs are ended forever. Because we acted,
nations like Libya have gotten the message, and have renounced their
own weapons programs. (Applause.) Because we acted, an example of
democracy is rising at the heart of the -- at the very heart of the
Middle East. Because we acted, the world is more free, and America is
more secure. (Applause.)

We face challenges in Iraq, and there's a reason why. Illegal
militias, remnants of the regime, and foreign terrorists are trying to
take the power they can never gain by the ballot. They hate free
societies. They can't stand the thought of freedom arising in a part
of the world that they want to control. They know that a free Iraq will
be a major defeat in the war on terror. They find little support
amongst the Iraqi people. And they will find no -- they will find no
success in their attempt to shake the will of the United States of
America. (Applause.) They don't understand us in this country. We will
never be intimidated by thugs and assassins. (Applause.)

We're on the offense in Iraq. We will defeat them there so we do not
have to face them in our own country. (Applause.) And we're not alone.
Other nations are helping. They're helping because they understand the
historic opportunity we have. They understand the stakes. They know
that a free Iraq will be an agent for change in a part of the world
that so desperately needs freedom and peace. (Applause.)

The Iraqi people want to run themselves. And so, on June 30th, a
sovereign Iraqi interim government will take office. And there will be
tough times ahead. These are not easy tasks. They are essential tasks.
And America will finish what we have begun, and we will win this
essential victory in the war on terror. (Applause.)

On national security, Americans have a clear choice. My opponent says
he approves of bold action in the world -- but only if other countries
don't object. (Laughter.) I'm for united action. I believe in building
coalitions. We have built coalitions in Afghanistan. We have built
coalitions in Iraq. We have built coalitions to stop the proliferation
of weapons of mass destruction. But I will never turn over America's
national security decisions to leaders of other countries. (Applause.)

Some are skeptical that the war on terror is really a war at all. My
opponent said, the war on terror is far less of a military operation,
and far more of an intelligence-gathering, law enforcement operation. I
disagree. Our nation followed this approach after the World Trade
Center was bombed in 1993. The matter was handled in the courts, and
thought by some to be settled. And yet, the terrorists were still
training in Afghanistan; they were still plotting in other nations;
they were still drawing up more ambitious plans. After the chaos and
carnage of September the 11th, it is not enough to serve our enemies
with legal papers. With those attacks, the terrorists and their
supporters declared war on the United States of America -- and war is
what they got. (Applause.)

Winning the war requires us to give our troops the best possible
support. I want to thank the members of Congress who are here for
supporting the $87-billion appropriations -- called a supplemental --
that I encouraged them to spend last fall. We owe it to our troops to
support them. Not everybody voted for the $87 billion, however. When
asked why my opponent didn't vote for it, here is what he said. "I
actually did vote for the $87 billion -- before I voted against it."
(Laughter.) The American President must speak clearly and mean what he
says. (Applause.)

Our men and women in the military are taking great risks on our
behalf. We've got a fantastic United States military. (Applause.) The
conduct of a few inside an Iraqi prison was disgraceful. Their conduct
does not represent the character of the men and women who wear our
uniform. Nor does it represent the character of the United States of
America.

At bases across our country and the world, I've had the privilege of
meeting with those who defend our country and sacrifice for our
security. I've seen their great decency and unselfish courage. And I
assure you, ladies and gentlemen, the cause of freedom is in really
good hands. (Applause.)

This nation is prosperous and strong, yet we need to remember that our
greatest strength is in the hearts and souls of our citizens. We're
strong because of the values we try to live by: courage and compassion,
reference and integrity. We're strong because of the institutions that
help give us direction and purpose: our families, our schools, and our
religious congregations. These values and institutions are fundamental
to our lives, and they deserve the respect of our government.

We stand for the fair treatment of faith-based groups so they can
receive federal support for their works of compassion and healing. We
stand -- (applause) -- we stand for welfare reforms that require work
and strengthen marriage, which have helped millions of Americans find
independence and dignity. (Applause.) We stand for a culture of life in
which every person matters and every person counts. (Applause.) We
stand -- we stand for institutions like marriage and family, which are
the foundations of our society. (Applause.)

And we stand for judges who strictly and faithfully interpret the
law. (Applause.) I have nominated people from all walks of life to
serve on our bench, highly-qualified, decent Americans, men and women
who will not undermine democracy by legislating from the bench. Yet,
because a small group of United States senators are willfully
obstructing the process, many of my nominees have been forced to wait
months, years, for an up or down vote. The needless delays in the
system are harming the administration of justice. And they are deeply
unfair to the nominees themselves. It is time for liberal senators to
stop playing politics with American justice. (Applause.)

The culture of this country is changing. It is changing from one that
has said, if it feels good, do it, and if you've got a problem, blame
somebody else, to a culture in which each of us understands we are
responsible for the decisions we make in life. If you are fortunate
enough to be a mother or a father, you're responsible for loving your
child with all your heart. If you're worried about the quality of the
education in the community in which you live, you're responsible for
doing something about it. If you are a CEO in corporate America, you
are responsible for telling the truth to your shareholders and your
employees. (Applause.) And in the responsibility society, each of us is
responsible for loving our neighbor just like we'd like to be loved
ourself.

For all Americans, these years in our history will always stand
apart. There are quiet times in the life of a nation when little is
expected of its leaders. These aren't one of those times. You and I are
living in a period when the stakes are high, the challenges are
difficult, a time when firm resolve is needed.

None of us will ever forget that week when one era ended and another
began. On September the 14th, 2001, I stood in the ruins of the Twin
Towers. It is a day that I will never forget. There were firefighters
and policemen in the crowd shouting, "Whatever it takes." A guy in a
hard-hat looked at me and said, "Don't let me down." As we all did that
day, these men and women searching through the rubble took it
personally. I took it personally. I have a responsibility that goes on.
I will never relent in bringing justice to our enemies. I will defend
the security of America, whatever it takes. (Applause.)

In these times, I've also been witness to the character of this
nation. Not so long ago, some had their doubts about the American
character, our capacity to meet serious challenges, or to serve a cause
greater than self-interest. But Americans have given their answer. I've
seen the unselfish courage of our troops. I've seen the heroism of
Americans in the face of danger. I've seen the spirit of service and
compassion renewed in our country. And we've all seen our nation unite
in common purpose when it mattered most.

We'll need all these qualities for the work ahead. We have a war to
win, and the world is counting on us to lead the cause of freedom and
peace. We have a duty to spread opportunity to every corner of this
country. This is the work that history has set before us. We welcome
it, and we know that for our blessed land, the best days lie ahead.